And Then Came the Birds

Spring is here. The leaves on the tree came out sometime between Friday and Sunday. The azaleas are in full bloom. The ants are making mountains out of anthills in the grass that is finally growing. And the birds have moved in.

I love birds. I even set up a bird feeder in the backyard to lure them away from the neighbors. My husband calls it my socialist welfare system. It worked.

I have a family of cardinals that moved in last year. Just a girl and boy with an egg. We watched the hubby come to the feeder, get seeds, and take them back to the tree and place them in the wife's mouth. This year, they have a little girl with them.

I have two tufted titmouses, two pileated woodpeckers, a couple chickadees, one morning dove, and some goldfinches. There's also two wrens, some sparrows, an undetermined number of ruby-throated hummingbirds, and a family of seven blue jays that must live on the left side of the driveway because every time I drive down it they all fly to the right side. (I always want to ask them why, if the right side feels safer, they built their nest on the left side)

I know I built this little fiefdom for them, but today as I watched them take over yard I began to think that a little bit of etiquette on their part wouldn't be too much to ask.

I layer the feeder with two kinds of food: bird seed mix, and sunflower seeds. That way, everyone is happy. Except that today, when the chickadees came to the feeder, they apparently wanted sunflower seeds, but on the top post only the seed mix was available. Rather than flying down a notch to get what he wanted, he proceeded to pick out the stuff he didn't like, dropping it on the ground, until he got what he wanted. Over and over.

The squirrels sat happily under the feeder and ate everything the chickadee didn't want.

I'd chase them all away, but I'm too busy taking photos!